


Little Miss Moppet

by Calesvol



Category: Girls Next Door (Webcomic), Labyrinth (1986), Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Return to the Labyrinth (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calesvol/pseuds/Calesvol
Summary: Sometimes, old flames have a tendency to burn.





	1. Chapter 1

Warning(s): G, none

* * *

“Oh, Sarah, back so soon?”

With midterms looming tall and high, it took Sarah a long moment to process what her roommate, Christine, had just said. Setting her backpack down by the couch, she regarded the blonde in bemusement. “Back so soon? Christine, I’ve been out at the library all day. I was studying with the other Wibsy members, remember?”

“You mean you weren’t rehearsing at the drama club? You had blonde hair and everything,” Christine said as she set the textbook she was reading aside, unfolding her legs from her perch on the couch.

“Wait, drama club? We don’t meet until next week, unless—ugh! Why do I have a feeling this has Jareth written all over it?” Sarah groaned as she collapsed on the couch, raking her hands through her hair. “Or glitter all over it, should I say?”

Christine placed her hands on her lap, looking contemplative. “You think it might be some spell gone wrong? Maybe it’s a shapeshifter, or some new tenant? We do have a lot of magic users in the building…” Christine said thoughtfully, pursing her lips worriedly.

“I’m going to go investigate. Might be a good break after all the cramming, anyways.”

“Good luck, Sarah! I’ll be here if you need anything.”

Suddenly, the mundane worry over her midterms suddenly melted into this newfound trepidation. Why was there some doppelganger wandering the apartment complex—or university campus—with blonde hair? Was it really even her? Feeling as though someone had walked on her grave, the near instant she emerged from her shared apartment with Christine did a frigid presence trail through the hall.

A statuesque, pale woman with a cool blue tint to her complexion, impossibly long silver hair, and frosty blue eyes in a regal dusty blue silk kimono stood out in the hallway, flanked by a two younger woman—one who was incredibly massive and the other thin as a wisp. Sarah stared on in odd fascination before the woman barked something that snapped her to attention.

“Moppet! Get over here! Hurry up or else we’ll be late to see Jareth!”

That alone caused the blood to curdle in her veins. Behind them did a girl who looked exactly like her, sans with blonde hair and a tanned complexion, stumble in behind with a bevy of suitcases balanced vicariously in her arms. Moppet. The very name her mother used to nickname her as a child. Something like indignation and aching disbelief welled in Sarah’s breast, unable to say anything.

Most of all, she felt hurt.

“Moppet? What—oh. Oh my. You must be her!” the woman exclaimed with a sinister glee as those frozen hues found Sarah, Moppet herself stock still as the brunette. “You must be the one my poor Jareth is so unfortunately enamored with! Oh, you poor thing, being so plagued by him. But, you don’t have to worry anymore because I’m here for my fiancé, you see.”

Sarah blinked at what Mizumi just said. “Wait, he’s…your fiancé?” she asked incredulously, feeling something bleak and hollow open up in her breast.

“Of course! What, did you really think an immortal as old has him has only ever been fixated on you? No, my dear, we were lovers before you ever came along. And with our most recent arrangement, that he lost mind you, I’ve come to collect,” Mizumi said with a note of giddiness, eyes practically chatoyant in their delight. “Have you seen him? The sooner we can leave this dump, the better!”

“That’s quite enough, Queen of Cups. Not another word to Sarah!”

Sarah didn’t know whether to feel guarded or threatened by the way Jareth circled his arms around her shoulders, practically able to feel his hackles raise. “Jareth—”

“That’s enough! You lost our bet, Jareth! You have no right to be schmoozing around with that little harlot!” Mizumi fumed tempestuously, stamping her slippered foot on the ground. “I made you an ablation that you couldn’t get to love you, and we had a deal! The Labyrinth and your heart are mine!”

“Oh, really! How silly of you to take my word for it, Mizumi,” Jareth scathed towards her, until his embrasure of Sarah was extricated from by the brunette herself.

“Whoa, whoa, hang on a second! Back up!” Sarah exclaimed as she slashed her palm between them. “What deal? Jareth why are you suddenly engaged to her? And why is there a girl who looks exactly like me? Talk, both of you!”

“Oh my, you really don’t know, do you? Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. His Majesty can never love anyone more than himself. Just as he’ll never be truly honest with you,” came Mizumi’s snake-like glee as she yanked Moppet by the bicep, the blonde yelping. Jareth stared, horrified, at the sight of her. As though he’d seen a ghost. “Wait, oh no. I have a much better idea! Moppet, would you be so kind as to tell dear little Sarah what really happened? Go on, he hurt you! He hurt you so much!”

Like a doll poised and wound up, only then did she finally begin speaking. “His Majesty made me after he lost you, because he coveted you. I was made from your dreams left behind in the Labyrinth, after you got your brother back. Lady Mizumi agreed to make me because he was despairing so much, despite breaking her heart ages before. Under one condition: I had to fall in love with him, or else she’d get his heart and his kingdom. So, he locked me away in a tower, coming every day and demanding that I fall in love with him. When I couldn’t, he discarded me in Junk City like refuse where I became the mayor’s slave. I suffered because of you, Sarah. I suffered because he couldn’t have you.”

Sarah shuddered after Moppet recounted her story, the ablation staring at her vacantly and disturbingly. Slowly, she inclined her head towards Jareth. “Jareth, is this true? Did you really make this girl just to force her to fall in love with you? Did you really abandon her when she didn’t reciprocate?”

“Sarah, please, that was a long time ago! Things are much different now—!”

“I get it!” Sarah shouted as she turned on her heel, full of fight. “You were different then! But—you couldn’t even tell me? You couldn’t tell me you fucked up?! You know, I thought we were finally getting somewhere, Jareth! I really thought you were opening up to me and really trying to change! For the better, but this—! Jareth, I don’t know if I can forgive this!” Sarah felt tears prickling in her eyes, hugging herself.

“Toby was on me, but this… You imprisoned a person, tried to make her love you all because of me! Jareth, do you even understand where I’m going with this?! Say you are!”

Jareth’s expression fell as his bangs hid his mismatched eyes, Sarah’s searching him desperately. “Say something, Jareth!”

“Sarah, I didn’t think she was still alive—” Jareth murmured weakly, abashed by her righteous anger. “I thought if it came to that, I could deal with her.”

“You stole part of me to just throw it away?! You treated this girl like dirt, Jareth. I— Stay away from me!” Sarah shouted as she bolted down the hall back to her apartment, not looking back.

She couldn’t stand to be around him right now. She didn’t know when she’d be able to again.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning(s): G, none

* * *

Despite it being a place of some troubling memories, the rooftop of the apartment complex was easily one of the most soothing places Sarah could think of being in the whole of the building. From where she was, she could see the university campus and shopping complex where she and Christine had bought dresses for Jareth’s ball, and Sakura Sushi—the place that had become a regular haunt for she and her friends. Even though it was difficult to see the stars from where she was, those places made it entirely worthwhile. It instilled a sense of comfort that no matter what happened, she’d still have all those happy memories.

Mizumi had said Moppet was made of her dreams after she left the Labyrinth. Was that why she felt like she’d lost everything after being rejected from Julliard? Why she felt so devastatingly plain in deciding to pursue study as an English teacher instead of becoming something more?

Surrounded by so many extraordinary people as she was, Sarah still felt like she was exceedingly ordinary compared to them. Some days, it was nice. On others, it fostered such a sense of alienation that she didn’t really know what to do with herself.

What about Jareth? What was she supposed to do with this new and sudden news of Mizumi and Moppet? She wasn’t naïve enough to think Jareth had gone the entirety of his immortal life never loving others, or at least seeing them. But when one of those old flames came back, she couldn’t help but feel burned. Did Jareth still have feelings for Mizumi? What about Moppet? If Moppet was easily discarded, what did that mean for her when the novelty of their relationship wore off?

It stung a bitter, cold barb in her heart.

“…I thought I might find you here.”

God, that voice. It sounded like so much like herself, but—different. In a way she couldn’t begin to describe. Like picking up a receiver through the static and listening to an old recording of herself. Regardless, Sarah didn’t think of turning her away. That silent concession alone was enough to invite Moppet closer to her side, the blonde folding her arms and gazing out into that same street view.

After a long spell of silence, Sarah broke it by saying softly, “I’m…sorry what you had to go through because of me. Because…of what you are to him.” She glanced towards her doppelganger, the younger woman absorbed by the view.

“…Sometimes I wish I could hate you. I thought it’d be so much easier if I did,” Moppet confessed as she turned her body towards Sarah. “But…I can’t. Because we’re one in the same, aren’t we? And…I’m a missing piece of you. Can’t really compete with that.”

“You could be your own person if you want, even if Mizumi or Jareth—”

“What about them?” Moppet shrugged carelessly. “I wasn’t happy with Jareth, and I doubt that I’ll be with Mizumi. All I am is a part of you. There’s no Moppet, just…Sarah’s hopes and dreams.” The blonde sighed wistfully. “The view up here is beautiful. I can see why you liked coming up here so much.”

Sarah fell silent for another moment, pursing her lips. “I don’t want you back if it means robbing you of a chance for happiness, Moppet. I—I couldn’t live with myself if I was the whole reason behind someone’s unhappiness.”

“Guess you never stopped wanting to be the princess-knight who saved everyone, huh?” Moppet said with a soft giggle. “Would you like that part back, Sarah?”

The brunette faced her with an alarmed expression. “Not if it means losing you!” she exclaimed honestly, standing upright.

“…Then it’s alright. If it means I could be important to one person…” Moppet held out one of her hands, offering it to Sarah. “Take it. If I’m with you, I won’t have to go back to either of them as just a shade of you. I really miss Toby, anyways. I want to see him again.”

“…Okay, Moppet. I understand. I won’t forget you, I promise,” Sarah murmured as she took Moppet’s hand, eyes squeezing shut as she felt herself slip down some abyssal waterfall with those memories rushing back into her, strangling on a gasp as she struggled to breathe through the torrent of emotions and memories that weren’t just her own.

Her dreams had become Moppet as a person, too.

“Sarah!”

“Mm, who…?” she mumbled while feeling a pair of strong hands on her shoulders, blinking owlishly up at Jareth who loomed with genuine concern writ upon his features. “Jareth…?”

Remembering the confrontation of before, the blond stepped back as the stabilizing magic receded, realizing what it was. “Sarah, are you hurt?” he demanded without skipping a beat, the woman feeling herself grow more lucid by the second. “Moppet…?”

“I… She returned to me, Jareth. Like she wanted.” She still felt at a loss for words, staring down at the hand that still tingled with a damning warmth. “…What about Mizumi? Don’t you have unfinished business with her, or something?” Sarah added ruefully, unable to meet those mismatched eyes.

Dammit, why was she feeling so hurt over Jareth’s fuck up? Was it because she felt so insignificant in the grand scheme of things? Back when they’d really played cat and mouse with their feelings, it hadn’t been an issue because she hadn’t thought this whole thing possible. Now? She felt pathetic and small and envious. In a way, Mizumi was everything Jareth could want: power and beauty wrapped together in a woman practically his complement. Her? She was just a human girl who had accidentally wished her half-brother away, then completely ignorant of what the consequences might’ve been.

Now she was in so deep in this labyrinth, she hadn’t seen the entrance, let alone a way out. She felt too entrenched in this stupid prick who had her heart in hooks!

“Sarah, you can’t possibly think a forced engagement in anything close to what I feel for you. Shall I be honest, then? I grew bored of Mizumi very early on when we were together. Because she and I are far too alike, you see. And why would I wish to spend lifetimes with someone that would be more akin to marrying a mirror? …I am far too accustomed to getting what I want, when I want it. It was why I wanted you, why I asked for Moppet to be made.”

“And what, that suddenly makes it okay to imprison a part of me, a _person_ , for your own selfish reasons?! Jareth, she said so herself! You abandoned her when she wouldn’t love you back! And me…now that you have me, how do I know you won’t get bored of me and abandon me, too?!” Sarah fumed as she glared at Jareth with pinpricks in her eyes.

She hated feeling like this around him. She hated to feel vulnerable when it’d only seen her taken advantage of in the past, having her insecurities and shortcomings picked on. Sarah angrily wiped her eyes and huffed, forcing the tears back and swallowing thickly. But, despite it all, she waited for Jareth to speak instead of storming away.

“It’s true. I haven’t known true love. Not really. Not like how you’ve felt it, I’m sure,” the Goblin King sighed, gazing at Sarah with a rare vulnerability in his eyes. “All I do know is that…what I feel for you is far more intense than what I’ve felt for anyone before or since, Sarah. As for Moppet—can you take the word of this foolish old king that it wouldn’t happen again? That she was made before I truly saw the light, precious?”

She wished she could forgive him piecemeal. In fact, it felt easier to. But, her heart was riddled with too many doubts for her to shrug off everything that had transpired so quickly. That’s how it always was with them. Just when things finally seemed to be plateauing into the usual tableau of mischief and hijinks she’d grown accustomed to—dare say even _liked_ —something like this arose and knocked it down several pegs. One step forwards always meant the risk of several steps back.

“I want to believe you, GK. I really do, but—I need some space. I need to think. Can you do that much for me, please?” Sarah sighed heavily, folding her arms. She felt small. Small enough to shrink away where she could lick her wounds in peace.

As conflicted as Jareth appeared, he finally conceded after a pregnant pause with a short bow. “As you wish, precious. Perhaps I can do something about Mizumi in the meantime,” he replied resolutely, straightening. No ‘beloved’. She didn’t want to dwell on how she felt about that.

In but another moment, the telltale teleporting she was used to hearing from him sounded, wisps of glitter and fae glamour drifting away in the cool December wind.

Now, she was alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> If it isn’t obvious enough, I only ship Sareth as they exist in Pika la Cynique’s Girls Next Door and the manga sequel, Return to Labyrinth. I don’t ship them as they appear in the original movie for personal, probably obvious reasons.


End file.
